Crimsion Gauntlet
This group is related to The Chronicles of The Dark Hand. Quotes: "The Blood Knights have shifted their ideology too far towards that of the lesser races. The Crimson Gauntlet stands to steer our order back in the right direction. The Blood Elven Light-Wielders of old have returned; and none shall stop us." ~ ''Arrodis Lightfury, Right Hand of The Crimson Gauntlet'' "The Sin'dorei are the master race, and the true inheritors of the Light's power. All others must come to see the truth of our supremacy; to suffer under a delusion of anything less is heresy in its purest form." ~ ''Colius Thalaron, Left Hand of The Crimson Gauntlet'' =Profile= ---- The Crimson Gauntlet's most important information is recorded here. Main Details Overview: The Crimson Gauntlet is an ideologically-extreme sub-faction of the Blood Knight Order, that functions exclusively as the elite military arm of the Phoenix Hegemony, and, to a lesser extent, The Medivh: two very politically powerful organisations of Silvermoon City. Opinions on the group vary greatly. Those within the Blood Knight Order who stand external to the secretive sub-faction, generally view the sect-like group as either a final refuge for the order's few remaining traditionalists, or a dangerous safe house for the order's ideological radical and unsound. Those outside of the Blood Knight Order, commoners and aristocrats alike, view the group as either full of staunch nationalists who ultimately fight for good as the Magisters see it, or plagued by dark racial supremacists who are suspiciously too politically protected. The Crimson Gauntlet is co-led by Knight-Lord Arrodis Lightfury and Inquisitor Colius Thalaron, and, upon passing the sub-faction's often unforgiving entry rites, its Blood Knights are known as "Phoenix Knights"; in honor of the primary faction by which they answer serve. Joining the Crimson Gauntlet: In order to become a Phoenix Knight of the Crimson Gauntlet, a Blood Knight of the Phoenix Hegemony must first receive either a written or verbal formal invitation to do so from one of the sub-faction's Hands. Exceptions to this rule are only made when one is formally endorsed by one of the Crimson Gauntlet's Minds; but such an avenue is rare. Once a Blood Knight has received an invitation to be assessed for induction, or once a Hand has been called upon by a Mind to review one of their recommendations, one must pass a unique trial which may encompass elements of either mind, magic or physical might. Said trail is to be hosted by either one or both Hands. If a Blood Knight passes their set trial to the expectations of the hosting party, then that applicant is granted acceptance into the sub-faction; after they've recited the sect's oath of ideology and nationalism. If a Blood Knight fails their set trial, then their mind will be wiped back to the time before their invitation or endorsement, via the use of Shadow magic; with or without consent. This is to ensure that the knowledge of the Gauntlet's ways is kept strictly on a need-to-know basis. Supplementary Details Membership: Minds (Overseers): * Lord Marshal Sanguinorian Bloodfury: The Will of Dath'remar; Phoenix Hegemony * Knight-Lord Tendael Dawnlight: Dominion of the Sun; Phoenix Hegemony * Senior Magister Mannanan Felstrike: Thalassian State; The Medivh Membership: Hands (Leaders): * Right Hand: Knight-Lord Arrodis Lightfury: Thalassian State; The Medivh * Left Hand: Inquisitor Colius Thalaron: Dominion of the Sun; Phoenix Hegemony Membership: Phoenix Knights (Soldiers): * Champion Koyasha Mace: Thalassian State; The Medivh * Champion Blaise Sunderblade: The Will of Dath'Remar; Phoenix Hegemony * Champion Lorren Sin'Dal: Dominion of The Sun; Phoenix Hegemony * Master Krensael Bloodfury: The Will of Dath'Remar; Phoenix Hegemony * Master Alsandra Silverwind: The Will of Dath'Remar; Phoenix Hegemony * Master Darnathalas Brightheart: Dominion of The Sun; Phoenix Hegemony * Knight Selionia Sin'Dal: Dominion of the Sun; Phoenix Hegemony * Knight Xaywug Dawnsong: Dominion of the Sun; Phoenix Hegemony * Knight Maethel Dawnlight: Dominion of the Sun; Phoenix Hegemony Group Specific Enemies: * The Sunstrikers :An ultra anti-establishment organisation of evil undead elves (specifically ex-Forsaken), bitter High Elves and disgraced Blood Elves, this budding new faction stands to topple all that the Magisters control. Led by a former senior Magistrix with a great thirst for revenge, this rebel faction operates from a magically-hidden base, deep within the tainted Ghostlands of Quel'thalas. General Enemies: * The Burning Legion :The enemies of all denizens of Azeroth who don't fall under their tainted sway, the Demons of the Burning Legion have recently returned to try once more to dominate and destroy all; and that naturally includes Quel'thalas. Believing themselves to be the Blood Knight Order's best answer to such a threat, the Phoenix Knights of the Crimson Gauntlet regularly fight the emerald demons, doing their part in their world's most recent war or great stakes. * Knights of the Ebon Blade :Once considered a generally neutral order of fallen heroes, the Knights of the Ebon Blade passed a point of no return with the Blood Knight Order when they attacked its Matriarch as she protected the body of Tirion Fordring from their unholy desecration. Since this great slight against the Blood Knights, The Crimson Gauntlet has made it one of their key priorities to attack any Ebon Death Knight they come across. * The Alliance :Proving time and time again to be both enemies of the Blood Elves and their parent faction, the Alliance stand in defiance of the future world that the Crimson Gauntlet seek to have their people live in. As such, the Alliance are foes that the Gauntlet show no quarter. Ever. Key Holdings: * Primary Headquarters: Xel'dormu's Sin :The warped remains of the Azeroth of an imploded timeline, Xel'dormu's Sin floats decaying in the chaotic Twisting Nether, empty of life and full of secrets. Claimed in secret by The Medivh as top secret Thalassian territory, the Crimson Gauntlet use this enigmatic landmass as their headquarters, utilizing its shadowy denizens as elite training aides, protecting it from outside sources, and keeping the spoils of their conquests safe from all foes; among other things. Relationship with the Light: < Coming Soon > Nationalism: The Phoenix Knights of the Crimson Gauntlet consider themselves to be the most radically patriotic of their racial kin. To these elite Blood Knights, their people and their state's prosperous future is paramount, and no other race compare to what they consider to be their kinds' innate supremacy above all other life. Racism and a unique brand of brutal nationalism, in other words, is an element that lies firm within all Phoenix Knights; particularly their leaders. Political Protection: Holding a radical, minority outlook under a totalitarian regime is a difficult feat; especially when belonging to a pious military faction of effectively a different religious sect. In order to survive forced ideological change and the constant threat of lose of autonomy, the Crimson Gauntlet relies on the mammoth political protection of both the Magisters, in particular The Medivh, and the mega paramilitary alliance known as the Phoenix Hegemony. Both of these parent factions, combined with the Crimson Gauntlet's constant victories and displays of patriotism, allow for this faction of largely maligned ideologues to just scrape past the mind-warping clutches of a state that seeks for all to conform. =History= ---- The Crimson Gauntlet's history is recorded here. Prelude: Dawn of a New Sunwell In Year 26, the Sunwell, a once awesome fount of arcane magic that, for thousands of years, passively fueled the very existence of the Elves of Quel'thalas, was violently retaken from the Burning Legion, and reborn -- purified of its taint -- into a duel wellspring of both arcane and light magic. Not since Quel'thalas' fall to the Scourge in Year 20 had the Blood Elves been so culturally impacted by such a change. In the minds of many, the Sunwell's return was symbolic of the dawn of the Blood Elves first true step towards reclaiming what they'd lost. To a powerful minority, however, its return also had its potential problems; and these issues needed to be prepared for. Days after the Sunwell's reclamation, in strict secrecy, under the cover of night in a dark corner of the Ghostlands, a gathering of some of the Blood Elves most influential senior Magisters took place to discuss what a future alongside a divine Sunwell, and a "reborn" Lady Liadrin, could hold for their organisation's ways. Whilst the general consensus of that fateful meeting was that the Sunwell's divine turn was welcome, the gathering couldn't shake their grave concerns over the possible rise of devout, dogmatic, Human-like Light practitioners among their kind. In an effort to preserve their culture's spirit of complete freedom of magical inquiry from the conservative views of the future faithful, the few gathered Magisters agreed to form The Medivh: a hidden order of cold intellectuals who'd work to keep the overall Magisters hold on Thalassian society firm; particularly when it came to Lady Liadrin and the new faithful. Part I: Return of the Silver Hand Year's passed since The Medivh's founding, and much influence had been obtained in many internal and external spheres without the powerful group's outing. Knight-Lord Arrodis Lightfury, more commonly known unofficially as "The Dark Hand of the Magisters" for his wiliness to do the Magisters, in particular The Medivh's, more discreet dirty work, had been assigned the long-term task by the shadowy group of keeping tabs on those Blood Knights who, like him, privately stood against becoming ideologically in-line with the views of the Blood Knight Order's religious Matriarch, Lady Liadrin. He accepted this task with great enthusiasm, and chose to focus much of his watch on The Dominion of the Sun and The Will of Dath'remar, knowing that those two paramilitary group's were rumored to contain many of the order's fringe of interest. Whilst in the process of observing knights of like-mind, the Burning Legion returned to Azeroth, and the Horde and Alliance lost their first major battle. Priorities changed, and the project was put on-hold as the war caught fire in the Broken Isles Time passed. As a means of better combating the Burning Legion, like warriors across the globe formally collected into mega-orders of their own. In this spirit, the Blood Knight Order formally joined a remade Order of the Silver Hand under a new Highlord, in-effect committing to mingling with the lesser races in the process; something that many Blood Knights vehemently hated. Blood Knights of interest to The Medivh began to reveal themselves more brashly; and Arrodis was watching. At the same time as the Blood Knight Order's joining with the Knights of the Silver Hand, the Phoenix Hegemony, a formal, joint effort by the Dominion of the Sun and The Will of Dath'remar to re-imagine the Convocation of Silvermoon of old, was born. Scrambling to meet the Legion's might, and keen to prove the security of their new mega-bond to the state, this powerful alliance sought to create a jointly-run military force of elite soldiers. An observer of the Hegemony, and long-time ally of its leaders, Knight-Lord Arrodis Lightfury approached The Medivh with a plan that would both grant the Hegemony the force that they sought, as well grant The Medivh the start of the anti-faith back-up plan that they desired. The Medivh agreed to politically back the Phoenix Hegemony's move to create their own military force with Thalassian Troops, knowing that their blessing would inevitably mean a silent sway with the Hegemony if needed. And thus The Crimson Gauntlet was born. Part II: Rise of the Phoenix Knights Two leaders, Arrodis Lightfury and Colius Thalaron, the sub-faction's Right and Left Hands respectively, were appointed, and Blood Knights from within the Hegemony began to be recruited and up-skilled into "Phoenix Knights": the group's vision of elite Blood Knights. The Medivh granted Arrodis the use of an off-world Thalassian claim known as Xel'dormu's Sin for his group to operate from, and, together with Colius, the two began their work against all who stood against their parent factions. =Trivia= ---- *OOC: All editor privileges and credits for this page belong to Arrodis (user), aka Jesse, of Moon Guard-US. *OOC: In order to keep up-to-date with our RP group's happenings, it is essential for all members to observe The Gauntlet's external IC and OOC text chat channels. They're both apart of the Phoenix Hegemony's collection of Discord text channels. *OOC: If you've any lore concerns about the group, please don't hesitate stating them with me. Catch me in-game via mail or whisper anytime; I'd love to chat. *IC: Soldiers who become Blood Knights specifically due to an invitation to join The Crimson Gauntlet, come into the Blood Knight Order at the Knight rank; skipping the Initiate rank completely due to recognized skill. Category:Blood Knights Category:Thalassian Military Category:Thalassian Army Category:Organizations Category:Quel'Thalas Organizations Category:Horde Organizations Category:Military Organizations Category:Kingdom of Quel'Thalas Category:Blood Knight Order